Beast swarmed from behind them. Gale spun around, counting at least two dozens of beast at the edge of their group, circling and waiting for the chance to pounce.
"Behind us!" Gale shouted.
"How did we not see any of them before?!" Rachel shouted.
No time to think about it. The beasts closed in fast.
Gale had few options to survive. Even fewer if the group's survival was a necessity.
He could've used Distort to make a run it for himself. Confuse both sides. Slip away when the confusion of the refractions hit its peak. The group wouldn't have caught him. They'd be dead.
And that was the last thing he didn't want to see or know. He wasn't going to let them die.
"Form a circle!" Ollie raised his pistol. "Back to back! Spears up!"
The group rushed inwards to cover Alex and Anna, making a tight ring as the beast surrounded them. Gale relatively stood shoulder to shoulder with Annett and Ollie. He felt the shiver in both of their arms, knowing fully they could die in their first encounter in this expedition.
"There's too many," Alex's voice cracked.
A beast jumped forward, scraping at Gale's direction. He reacted fast, swinging the bone sabre horizontally. The blade cut deep, onto the lower mouth of the beast into its neck.
"Rachel!" Annett yelled. "Can't you burn through them?"
"We're too close together, you'll burn too!"
Gale blocked a swipe from a beast, hands numbing. The group kept being pushed back more and more. He saw where the beast were trying to herd them, backed to the giant tree that dwarfed all the trees around.
"This is your fault!" Annett shouted at Ollie. "If you hadn't broken my sword-"
"Shut up and complain later!" Ollie shouted back, firing a shot that hit a beast in the eye. "Focus!"
They couldn't keep this up much longer. One mistake and it would be over in a second.
"Everyone!" he shouted. "We need to climb! Get up the tree!"
Rachel looked at Gale. She nodded. "He's right! It's our only chance!"
Gale turned to Anna next to him. "I'll cover you. Go!"
Anna paused for a second then climbed up slowly for the lowest branch. Gale cursed at her slow response and stepped in front of her, swinging his saber, slicing another beast's neck.
"Alex, you next!" Rachel called out, helping boost the smaller girl up.
One by one, they started to climb. Dmitry grunted as he pulled himself up. He was slow, of course he was. He was fucking old. Gunshots rang out through the forest, preventing the forest beasts from snapping at the climber
"Annett, go!" Gale slashed at another beast, but missing this time.
Annett didn't argue as she hoisted herself up immediately. Rachel shot a few small fireballs at the crowd of beasts, buying her a few seconds.
"Ollie!" Gale shouted. "You're next!"
Ollie fired one last shot before putting the pistol away. He jumped, grabbed the lowest branch and pulled himself up.
Gale stood alone now, surrounded by beasts with back to the trunk of the tree. He activated Distort, bending light around him.
The beasts stopped, confused by the multiple refractions. Gale took the split second of hestiation. He put the sabre onto his hilt and jumped as high as he could, then grabbing at the bark.
Pain shot through his calf as a beast had jumped up that swiped at his lower limbs. With his hold on the bark, he threw himself up, finally landing on the branch where the group waited.
They looked below, snarls and growls all around as the beasts tried to mount the tree to no avail.
"What now?" Alex whispered.
Gale met Rachel's eyes. Her furrowed brows and creased lips showed no confidence. They were trapped with no clear way of getting out of this mess. Soon, those beasts, one way or another, would find a way up. Or worse, something that flew found them.
Gale studied the mass of beasts below. The others huddled close on the wide branch. He turned back to the team, noticing only Dmitry's and Rachel's shoulder didn't shiver.
"Let them come," Gale said. "They're not good climbers."
Annett snorted, "If I had my sword, we wouldn't be in this mess. I could've taken more of them down before we got cornered."
Ollie's head snapped towards her, "your sword? The one you tried to run me through with when we first met? Yeah, real shame I broke that."
"You attacked me first!" Annett shouted. "I thought you were one of those things!"
"Oh, really?" Ollie said. "A forest beast with a gun and a suit? You're smarter than that."
"Enough!" Rachel interruped. "This isn't helping anyone."
Gale cleared his throat and said, "We need to focus on what's happening now."
He pointed to the beasts below. "Notice how they're not fighting each other? That's because they see us as food first, themselves second."
"So what do we do?" Alex asked, her body visibly shaking.
"Eventually, they'll make a choice. Either they'll turn on each other, or they'll try to climb up here."
"Which one you think they'll do?" Dmitry asked.
"They'll climb," Gale said right away. "But like I said, they're not good at it. We can pick them off as they come up."
Anna's eyes widened. "We only got a couple of days of supplies to last out here."
Gale nodded. "It's still better than dying down there."
The group went silent after those words. Only the growls from below could be heard.
"So, what's next?" Rachel said.
"We need to thin their numbers. Make them desperate enough to turn on each other," Gale said.
"Like this?" Ollie pulled up his pistol.
"We just have to wait for now. They'll eventually climb up and then we can pick them out one by one," Gale said. "Ollie, how many shots do you have left?"
Ollie checked his pistol, frowning. "Not nearly enough if I'm going to be wasting bullets in this first encounter."
"If one them gets too close, take it out, no matter how much shots you got left," Gale said.
Annett moved closer to Gale, "What about you? Can you do anything at range?"
Gale shook his head. Launching a spear on a branch like this was wreckless. He could fall into the pile himself. "Unless they get close enough, I can't do anything."
"Who takes first watch?" Rachel asked.
"I will," Gale said immediately. "Along with... Anna. You're steady with those spears."
Anna straightened up, "Alright, I won't let you down."
As the others tried to rest, Gale sat at the edge of the branch. He felt the bark dig into his hands as he leaned forward, watching the creatures below.
A big beast suddenly jumped up, its claws scraping against the trunk. It climbed a few feet before sliding back down.
"Careful," Gale muttered to Anna.
Anna nodded.
The first beast began to climb in earnest. Gale activated Distort just in front of its face. The light refracted, confusing the creature where to put its claws on the bark.
Anna took her chance, jabbing her spear at the confused beast. It hit the beast in the shoulder, knocking it back to the ground with a howl.
The other beasts heard the cry, some turning to check on the fallen one before eating it alive. The growls grew with that first blood of the standoff. More beasts tried their claws at the trunk of the tree.
The night dragged on as they kept watch. Fatigue started to set in, eyes grew heavy, burning from no sleep.
Anna wasn't doing well either. Her breathing became short and raspy. Her arms shook from using the bone spear, Each jab and thrust needed her full strength to pierce through the thick hide of the beast. There were at least 7 times Gale had to pull her back from falling off and dealing with the beast himself.
"Hold," Gale said. He waited for the right moment. As the creature reached for the next grip, he bent the light around the bark. The image shifted, making the branch seem to move right. The beast stopped, confused.
"Now."
Anna stabbed with her spear, hitting the beast in the throat. It made a gurgling noise and fell to the forest floor. The moment it landed, the other beasts ate it, ripping its flesh apart.
This gruesome sight had happened multiple times now. Every time a beast fell on to the forest floor, the others ate it without fail. Though, it was a welcome sight as one dead beast is one beast they didn't have to deal with.
He looked at Anna, seeing the dark circles under her eyes and her slumped shoulders.
"Rest," he said.
Anna shook her head. "I can keep going."
"No," Gale said. "You're useless if you're tired. Give the spear to Rachel."
For a second, it looked like Anna might argue more. Then she nodded and walked back along the branch to the others.
Rachel came over, her hair messy with leaves and twigs stuck in it. She took the spear from Anna.
"Are you sure you don't want to rest?" Rachel asked. "You've been up this the whole time, and don't think I don't know what you did in the forest alone."
Gale shook his head. The truth was, he couldn't stand to close his eyes. Who knows what would be waiting after he open his eyes again. Screams of his friends. Blood dripping on the floor. Teeth snarling and ripping the flesh of his friends apart. He'd rather stay awake than see those images.
Rachel didn't push it. She took position beside him, watching the swarm of beasts below.
The pattern kept going. A beast would start to climb, claws scraping on bark. Gale would use Distort to confuse it. Rachel would strike with her spear or a small burst of fire. The beast would fall, and the others would eat it.
Hours blended together. The attacks slowed as fewer beasts remained. Those left got more desperate, climbing more wildly, only to meet a spear and fall like the others.
The sun came up behind the moon that eclipsed it.
"Looks like a day passed," Rachel broke the silence. "We have three days of supplies left if we're careful."
Gale nodded.
They couldn't stay in this tree forever. Soon they'd have to move. With beasts still all over the ground, going down would be suicide.
He felt his stress growing every minute. He knew the others felt it too, their bodies weak from hunger and the constant growls below. One slip meant death.
Suddenly, a low growl, much lower than the other beasts, caught his attention. A giant beast circled the trunk, almost as big as the biggest forest predator he's seen. Its eyes were slit, thinning as it made eye contact with him.
"I don't like the look of that one," Rachel whispered.
"It's smarter than the others. Be careful."
As if hearing them, the beast suddenly jumped upwards from the tree. Its back legs pushed it higher than any before it.
Gale again activated Distort, pushing it further. The visual shift became wider, making the tree trunk look a meter to the right. The beast paused at illusion, not knowing where to sink its claws.
Rachel took her chance. She threw her spear with all her strength, aiming for the beast's throat. But at the last second, the creature moved its head. The spear cut its shoulder, drawing blood but not killing it.
The beast roared, glared at them. Its claws dug deeper into the bark. Using its purchase, it launched itself up.
"Get back!" Gale shouted, pushing her behind him. He grabbed his bone saber, knowing he'd have to fight the creature up close. No time for tricks now.
The beast reached their branched. Gale saw its eyes closer, its eyes a red slit.
But before he could swing, another roar split into the air, causing even the leaves of the tree to shake. It came from further away, not from any beast that surrounded the tree. A new player entered the fray.
The climbing beast froze, turning its head to where the sound came from. As fast as it turned its head, it then dropped to the ground.
Gale followed its gaze, and saw the silhouette. A beast unlike anything he'd seen before. More twisted than others. Its fur a mix of feathers, scales, and leather. On its back, limbs that looked like arms, unmoving seeming to serve no purpose.
He watched the horror open its mouth, showing its rows of teeth that lined its mouth into its throat.